"John!" I called from the kitchen. "John!" He ran to me, and almost slipped in the puddle at my feet. "My water broke," I said.

"Oh my god," he said, picking up the phone. "Dad!" he said. "The babies are coming. We'll drop Annie off in about ten minutes." I went to the door and pulled my coat off the coat rack. "Annie," Carter called. "Come on, the babies are coming. We gotta take you to Grandpa's."

Annie came running to the door. "Babies!" she said, smiling.

"Come on, out the door, please," Carter said.

******************************

"Something's not right," I heard the doctor say.

"What?" I screamed. "What's not right?"

"One of the babies is turned sideways and blocking the birth canal. We have to do a c-section," the doctor said to me.

"Carter," I cried, reaching out for him. I couldn't see him anywhere. "Carter!"

I felt a hand take mine. "It's OK," he said. "I'm here."

I watched the doctor pick up a scalpel and passed out.

****************************

"John," I croaked.

Carter took his head out of his hands. "Hi," he said, cracking a smile. "How do you feel?"

"Groggy," I said. "And my stomach kills," I said, lightly touching where the doctor had made the cut.

Carter scooted his chair closer the to edge of my bed and took my hand. "I love you," he said, kissing it.

"I love you," I said. "And we have three kids," I said. "Can you believe it? So what are they? Boys or girls?"

"One boy and one girl," Carter said. "But Abby, the girl . . ."

"Gracie," I said, smiling.

"Gracie," Carter repeated. He looked absolutely heartbroken. "Her heart wasn't very strong and um, well they worked on her but there wasn't anything they could do."

I stared at him. Was he saying what I though he was saying. "She's OK, right?" I asked, knowing the answer.

Carter shook his head. "She died . . ." he paused to try and get control of himself but tears were streaming down his face. "She died about ten minutes ago," he said.

I just stared at him, trying to understand what he'd just said. Dead? The baby was dead? How can that be?

"But the boy," Carter said. "Kaden . . .he's fine. Five pounds, two ounces."

I reached over and grabbed onto Carter, burying my face in his shirt. He held me while I cried, never once saying "It's OK." Because it wasn't OK. I never even got to look at my daughter or hear her cry. When I finally pulled away I asked, "was she beautiful?"

Carter nodded. "Gorgeous. He is too. Not all red and wrinkled from being pushed through the birth canal."

I squeezed Carter's hand. "Can I see him?"

Carter went to find him and I lay back, trying not to think about funeral arrangements. I suppose we were lucky they both hadn't died. I reached up as Carter came back holding out baby.

He placed my son in my arms and I started to cry again. "Hi Kaden," I said. He looked at me, completely bored. I kissed his head. He yawned. "He's perfect," I whispered.

The door burst open and Annie came pouncing in. "Mim!" she shouted. Jack followed her in.

"Hi Annie," I said. "You have a new baby brother."

Carter lifted her up so she could see Kaden. "I wanted a sister," she said.

Carter sat down and placed Annie on his knee. "You had one," he said. "But she was very sick. And the doctors tried but they couldn't make her better."

Annie frowned. "Is she in Heaven now?" she asked.

Carter nodded. "John, I'm so sorry," Jack said, placing his hand on Carter's shoulder. "Have you called your mother?"

Carter nodded again. "She'll be in town in time for Gracie's funeral."

Response to reviews -

Connie (chapter 37) - Aw, thank you!

Aaron (chapter 37) - I'm glad you like the endings. I hope they continue to please you.

Aaron (chapter 38) - Yes twins. Unfortunately, it didn't exactly work out the way they'd planned.

Vkh214 - I read the last chapter of your story. I loved it and totally agree with everything you said. I have to say, that my favorite episode has to be the one where Gallant, Luka, Susan, Abby, and Carter all find the bag of sex toys and then have to go sit in that room for hours. Very funny. And, of course, "Lockdown" and "Chaos Theory" are also very good.

Carbybubbles - Yep, a boy and a girl. But . . .now just a boy.

Hyperpiper91 - There was a girl . . .but she went bye-bye. : ( Give me your name suggestion anyway though. Maybe I'll use it for my next fic.

Carbyfan100 - Better and better? : D